# Stupid Republican idea of the day **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 26, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897 "2009-03-26T18:48:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1903
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38042 "2018-06-21T19:57:42Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Because \*\*Sherrerd \*\*said they wanted evidence that the protesters were progressives. Do try to keep up. Ah … got it, thanks. I thought you (or someone) was trying to discredit them for having “antifa” connections, which some associate (falsely) purely with dangerous radicalism. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38043 "2018-06-21T22:26:08Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Ah … got it, thanks. I thought you (or someone) was trying to discredit them for having “antifa” connections, which some associate (falsely) purely with dangerous radicalism. A number of antifa _are_ dangerous radicals. There’s a difference between being against fascism and being antifa, like there’s a difference between being moral and in a majority and being part of the Moral Majority. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38044 "2018-06-21T22:36:06Z")
Dangerous radicals, huh? How many people have antifa injured so far? What is their rate of the killing? They seem more like vocal and annoying, dangerous not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38045 "2018-06-21T22:39:11Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Because \*\*Sherrerd \*\*said they wanted evidence that the protesters were progressives. Do try to keep up. I’m not sure that the group in question, no matter what their name, would qualify as ‘progressive,’ much less be reasonably held to represent all progressives (as Mr. Erickson’s accusation implied.) In any case, what they were doing really is NOT what the Brownshirts used to do. (And Erickson knows it, disingenuous little knob that he is.) ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38046 "2018-06-21T23:03:04Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Dangerous radicals, huh? How many people have antifa injured so far? What is their rate of the killing? > > They seem more like vocal and annoying, dangerous not so much. [Do you really think you can get away with such things?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antifa_(United_States)) > [@](#): > > Antifa groups, along with black bloc activists, were among those who protested the 2016 election of Donald Trump.[12][46] They also participated in the February 2017 Berkeley protests against alt-right[49][50][51][52] speaker Milo Yiannopoulos, where they gained mainstream attention,[29] with media reporting them “throwing Molotov cocktails and smashing windows”[3] and causing $100,000 worth of damage.[53] > > In April 2017, two groups described as “anti-fascist/anarchist”, including the socialist/environmentalist Direct Action Alliance, threatened to disrupt the 82nd Avenue of Roses Parade after hearing the Multnomah County Republican Party would participate. The parade organizers also received an anonymous email, saying: “You have seen how much power we have downtown and that the police cannot stop us from shutting down roads so please consider your decision wisely”. The two groups denied having anything to do with the email. The parade was ultimately canceled by the organizers due to safety concerns.[54][55] And, to take a page (as it were), if speech can be violence, credible threats of violence against identified groups are, in fact, violence. > [@](#): > > During a Berkeley protest on August 27, 2017, an estimated one hundred antifa protesters joined a crowd of 2,000–4,000 counter-protesters to attack a reported “handful” of alt-right demonstrators and Trump supporters who showed up for a “Say No to Marxism” rally that had been cancelled by organizers due to security concerns.[53][63] Protestors threatened to smash the cameras of anyone who filmed them.[64] Smashing “cameras” means smashing faces, given where cameras are positioned. [The antifa “leaders”, as much as such people can be said to exist, agree with me in principle](http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/350524-antifa-activists-say-violence-is-necessary): > [@](#): > > Anti-fascist activists, or “antifa,” increasingly mobilized in the wake of President Trump’s election, are unapologetic about what they describe as the necessary use of violence to combat authoritarianism. > > While both experts on the movement and activists within it emphasize that not everyone who participates in anti-fascist activism engages in violence, they say the use of force is intrinsic to their political philosophy. Yes, I’m sure _The Hill_ is Literally Brietbart. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38047 "2018-06-21T23:07:00Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > A number of antifa _are_ dangerous radicals. > > There’s a difference between being against fascism and being antifa, like there’s a difference between being moral and in a majority and being part of the Moral Majority. That’s why I included the word “purely.” Just trying to avoid guilt by association. If you think these protestors were wrong to do this particular thing, just say that. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38048 "2018-06-21T23:21:45Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Smashing “cameras” means smashing faces, given where cameras are positioned. When I want to smash a camera I grab it and throw it on the ground, maybe stomping on it if that’s what it takes. To pretend that smashing cameras means trying to punch _through them_ is laughable. The rest of your post seems similarly desperate to conflate ‘rampant destructive property damage’ with ‘murder’. Yes, Antifa as an organization has embraced volence and property damage, and I personally don’t want to be associated with them (and think it’s bullshit to claim equate them with progressives as a whole). But trying to twist that into them being a gang of murderers just makes you wrong when you could very easily make strong points while staying right. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38049 "2018-06-22T00:21:32Z")
> [@](#): > > …Trump supporters who showed up for a “Say No to Marxism” rally… That is just precious. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38050 "2018-06-22T00:27:43Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > The rest of your post seems similarly desperate to conflate ‘rampant destructive property damage’ with ‘murder’. I did no such thing. > [@](#): > > Yes, Antifa as an organization has embraced volence and property damage Then my point is proven. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38051 "2018-06-22T05:16:14Z")
This is an amusing digression, but it started when talking about something other than Antifa as such. I think it is insulting both to the Democratic Socialists who heckled Secretary Nielsen _and_ to the Sturmabteilung to equate the two. The SA did more than heckle people; and the hecklers are _not_ going out to burn and rob. I know that the forces of conformity and fear want to label all anti-fascists as Antifa while at the same time defining Antifa as the violent ones, but you can’t really have it both ways. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38052 "2018-06-22T18:07:28Z")
Brian Kilmeade of Fox & Friends: “…these aren’t our kids. Show them compassion, but it’s not like he is doing this to the people of Idaho or Texas.” > **[Fox & Friends host: "These aren't our kids. ... It's not like \[Trump\] is...](https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-friends/fox-friends-host-these-arent-our-kids-its-not-trump-doing-people-idaho-or-texas)** > > From the June 22 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends: There it is, folks. Flat out right there. These brown kids don’t matter because they aren’t us pure white folks. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38053 "2018-06-22T19:28:59Z")
all the people who were supposedly injured by Antifa were actually crisis actors. Hey, this is fun. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38054 "2018-06-22T22:15:12Z")
Saw an outtake of Trump in Duh-luth. There was a protester in the midst, with predictable results, and has he was led away, Trump spilled some shit about how he couldn’t tell if that was a man or a woman because he needed a haircut. Felt so much younger, all of a sudden… ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38055 "2018-06-22T22:53:09Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Smashing “cameras” means smashing faces, given where cameras are positioned. In a post where you seemed committed to establishing facts with citations, you had to fuck it up and throw this ridiculous assertion in there, didn’t you? ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38056 "2018-06-22T23:11:52Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > In a post where you seemed committed to establishing facts with citations, you had to fuck it up and throw this ridiculous assertion in there, didn’t you? The conversation went like this: **Derleth** : They’re dangerous radicals! **eschereal** : How dangerous can they be? They’re not killing people! The goalpost for ‘dangerous’ was set at killing or hurting _people_, where Antifa’s main target for their destructive tendencies seems to be _property_, as best I can tell. This was a problem for **Derleth** , so in his rebuttal his did his damndest to slyly imply that Antifa really is dangerous - aka hurting/killing people. I called him out on that. He didn’t like it. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38057 "2018-06-23T00:07:09Z")
Hey, man, property is people too. Or something. ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38058 "2018-06-23T03:04:35Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Smashing “cameras” means smashing faces, given where cameras are positioned. That’s a good reminder of how old you are when someone hands you their phone to take a picture and you instinctively hold it up to look through the viewfinder. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38059 "2018-06-23T18:20:55Z")
Mike Huckabee tweeted a photo of a bunch of tattooed Latino men throwing gang signs with the caption “Nancy Pelosi introduces her campaign committee for the take back of the House.” [https://twitter.com/GovMikeHuckabee/status/1010497564435730434](https://twitter.com/GovMikeHuckabee/status/1010497564435730434) ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38060 "2018-06-23T18:23:23Z")
nm, duplicate ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38061 "2018-06-23T22:56:35Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Mike Huckabee tweeted a photo of a bunch of tattooed Latino men throwing gang signs with the caption “Nancy Pelosi introduces her campaign committee for the take back of the House.” > [x.com](https://twitter.com/GovMikeHuckabee/status/1010497564435730434) Just throwing away the dog whistles and going full-on racist, eh, Mike? (You have to wonder, presuming Huckabee actually is a theist, how he pictures his God reacting to his little foray into hatemongering.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=1902) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=1904)